Improvement in sewing-machine



- 2- Sheets-Sheet 1 J. H. BUTTERWORTH.-

Sewing Machine.

Patented Au .24, 19s9.

a m M 4. f d 0. w a f WWII law I X 7 w j 1 d g N 7 m/K N. PEI'ERS, hotoiithogmpher, Washington. D. C

- 2 Sheets-Shet 2'. J. H. BUTTERWORTH.

Sewing Machine.- v No; 93,962. i Patented Aug. '24, 1.869.

N. PEIERS. mwuaa n hm-Wuhinm-D. c.

?ltnited swat sac cam,

JOSHUA H. BUTTERWORTH, DOVER, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent No. 93,962, dated August 24, 186! IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

ings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents aplan' or topview of my improved sewing-machine.

Figure 2 is a front elevation, partly in section, of the same,

Figure 3 is a detail face view of the tension-earn.

Figure 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the machine.

Figure 5 is a detail face View of the shuttle.

-Figure 6 is a detail transverse section of the-same, taken in the plane of the line at x, fig. 5.

Figure 7 is a side view, partly in section, of the shuttle.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the construction of sewing-machines and their shuttles, and has for its pbject to provide a simple means of operating the shuttle, an adjustable and reliable tension-apparatus for the needle-thread, and a shuttle in which the thread cannot break or become spoiled when drawn from one end of the bobbin.

The invention consists, first, in a new apparatus for operating the shuttle of the sewing-machine, said apparatus being a vertical rock-shaft, which has one arm connected, by a ball or knuckle-joint, with a pitman pivoted to a crank-pin of the driving-shaft, while another arm, under the cloth-plate, is connected with the shuttle. The oscillating'motion imparted tothe aforesaid vertical shaft by its connection with the driving-shaft, serves to impart the requisite reciprocating motion to the shuttle, that travels in suitable guideways.

The invention consists, secondly, in pivoting to the front end of the upper frame of a sewing-machine, a lever, which carries a hook or loop, and in arranging a cam on the upper shaft of the machine for'oseillating the said lever, so that the hook or eye of the same will be swung out to keep the needle-thread tense while the needle .is being elevated so as to form a tight loop or knot with the said thread. A spring counteractsthe cam, to draw the hook or eye in again, when the thread is to be slaeke'ned.

The invention consists, thirdly, in the combination,

with the take-u p lever, of certain devices for regulating the same.

The invention further consists in arranging, in the shuttle, a wire or other spring-rod, free at one end, to admit of easy threading and unthreading, and parallel with the axis of the bobbin in the same, so that the thread may be drawn'around the said rod to make its angle, when drawn from the end of the bobbin, less sharp. a I

In the ordinary shuttle, the thread, when drawn from either end of the bobbin, is within the shuttle, almost parallel with the axle of the bobbin, and forms quite a sharp angle where it fits through the perforated side of the shuttle. It is therefore very apt to be cut or injured when thus strained in the apertures of the shuttle-side, and has much more tension than, when drawn from the middle of the bobbin.

By my arrangement the tension is equalized, and the angle, when the thread is drawn from the end of the shuttle, is reduced so that the thread cannot be cut or injured.

A, in the drawing, represents the cloth-plate of a sewing-machine, of suitable construction.

B is the G-shaped frame, projecting from the clothplate, to support the upper horizontal drivingshaft O, the needle-slide D, and the presser-foot E.

All these parts are of suitable construction.

The shaft 0 receives rotary motion by suitable means, and imparts the requisite reciprocating motion to the needle F. 1

On the under side of the cloth-plate is arranged a suitable feeding-apparatus,and a guide or raceway, G, for the shuttle H,

The shuttle, which is separately illustrated in figs. 5, 6, and 7, carries a thread-bobbin, a, as usual, and has apertures in the side for the withdrawal of the thread.

On that side of the shuttle which is opposite to the perforated side-plate b of the same, is arranged within the shuttle a spring-wire, 0, parallel with the bobbin. One end of this wire is fastened to the shuttle, the other is loose, so that it can be raised to slip the thread over it. The loose end of the wire, then, by its own resilience, becomes locked in a notch at the end of the shuttle, so as not to interfere with the proper action of the shuttle, or with the needle-thread loop while passing over it.

As the thread from the bobbin is passed around the wire 0, before it leaves the shuttle, it will, when drawn from the end of the bobbin, have its angle formed where it passes out of the shuttle, considerably en-,

larged. I

1f the wire 0 were not provided, the thread would pass from the bobbin in the direction of the dotted line in fig. 5, to the side of theshuttlaand would then be bent so suddenly as to become injured by the strong tension and sharp edge of the shuttle-apertures \Vith the aid of my attachment, the thread,-by being passed over the wire 0, has its angle at bconsiderably enlarged, as is clearly shown in fig. 1. The excessive tension and consequent injury of the thread are thus avoided.

The tension of the thread in the shuttle is produced by a spring-plate, 10, which is, by means of a screw, u, secured to the inner side ofthe shuttle, and which has a projecting ear, u, that is on the same level with, and almost opposite one of the discharge-openings in the shuttle. This spring-plate is a substitute for the ordinary wire rod on the outside of the shuttle.

By means of the screw '1', the plate 10 can be drawn more or less tight against the side of the shuttle, and the tension of the thread can therefore be regulated at \nll.

To the side of the machine is fitted, through the cloth-plate, a vertical shaft, I, whose lower end rests upon asuitable step, (1, formed on the machine, while its upper end is fitted through an arm, e, that projects from the frame B, as shown. 7

From the shaft 1, projects above the cloth-plate a horizontal arm, f, which is, by means of a pitman, J, connected with a wrist-pin, g, projecting from a crank, or wheel, h, of the shaft 0.

A ball or knuckle, 'i, is formed on the outer end of the pitman J, and fitted into a corresponding socket of the arm f, as is clearly shown in fig. 1.

As the shaft-G is revolved, it will, by means of the pitman, impart oscillating motion to the shaft I, the

knuckle-joint allowing free motion to the parts.

From the lower end of the rock-shaft I, projects a horizontal arm, j, which is, by means of a rod, k, connected with the shuttle-carrier L, which travels in the raceway. This reciprocating motion is imparted to the shuttle without requiring the difficult connections under the cloth-plate, heretofore required.

M is a lever, pivoted, by means of a pin, Z, to ears on, that project from the side of the frame B, near the front end of the same.

' To the lower end of the lever M, is secured a wire, 11, forming a hook or eye, 0, as shown in fig. 1.

A spring, 1, interposed between the upper end of the lever M and the frame B, serves to throw the hook or eye 0 toward the needle.

On the shaft-G is mounted a cam, N, which, once dining every revolution-of the shaft, strikes the lever 'M, to throw its lower end away from the needle.

The needle-thread is fitted through the hook or eye the disk or arm s, on the main shaft 3 ened to a disk or arm, 8, that is mounted upon the shaft.

0, said screw or pin passing through a segmental slot, t, of the cam, as is clearly shown in fig. 3.

The edge of the cam has a concave portion or de-- pression fitted against tlie shaft, and the slot tis on an arc of a circle described from the axis of the shaft 0 as centre. The dam can thus be adjusted around the shaft 0, so as to push out the lever M at any desired part of the motion, to have the greatest tension when the needle is at a particular desired position. cloth of different thicknesses, and for different kinds of stitches, the cam will, therefore, have to.be adjusted. It is evident that the slot t, instead of being in the cam N, may as well be in the plate 3, as the same adjustment could thereby be produced.

. Having thus described my invention,

I claim as new, and desire to secure: by Letters Patent- 'l. The described combination of devices for imparting reciprocating motion to the shuttle-carrier, the

same consisting of the wrist-pin on the main shaft, pitman J, ball or knuckle-joint 6., arm f, vertical rock-'- andarm j, substantially as shown and de-.

shaft I, scribed. V

2. The described arrangement of the lever M, fulcrumed at l, and operated by the cam N on the main shaft, against the force of the spring 1), sustained upon its supporting-rod.

3. The combination, with the take-up lever M, of

the cam N, slotted, as shown, and the pin 1', all substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, within the shuttle, of the spring guide-rod c, free at one end, and ten'sion spring plate w, the latter being adjustable by means of a fasteningscrew, substantially as shown and described.

' J. H. BUTTERWORTH.

Witnesses: I

J. W. J OLLEY, ALPHEUS BEEMER.

For 

